I quit my job for a year of wilderness camping – spring

horrible yes, on the first Portage after a very scenic paddle This fog is rushing across the lake something has to be blowing so fast I can do this better oh man that's hard The trail is long, challenging and hard to follow, but here we are fine. Ugly parts about such a beautiful lake. Small, this island in the middle and then a lake on each side, separated by Narrows. Pretty perfect, it doesn't seem. it's from here, but that's home there, it's actually a pretty cozy place once you walk in. The black flies haven't been bad today and suddenly they went crazy.

It's good to know this is here because it was hard to find anything with Joe last

year

. and at first it looks like a rat's nest, but there are some cozy places. Look, there's a fire pit. Some firewood still, thanks Joe and the previous me just started raining. We hurried to turn up the grass. I hope there is a storm. I would love to ride. Today there was a storm in the hammock. This is my favorite type of

camping

, just rugged and untamed, unused other than Joe and I, who knows if anyone has ever used it, probably not when it comes to

camping

trips.

I tend to set my expectations high too, for example on this short trip I was expecting a big storm tonight and then potentially the Northern Lights were forecast tonight, but instead I'll probably just get a gray Knight and then I wanted to find my GoPro which I tried last

year

. It doesn't happen and then I want to catch another fancy Lake troat, whatever it is, but in all likelihood none of those four things are going to happen and I spend a lot of time thinking about what I want to happen or what I hope will happen in the future.

That's not where I'm at in a moment and I think that's especially true as a YouTuber because I'm trying to put together some kind of theme or narrative for the video and that's mostly rooted in the things that are going to happen during the course of the trip, so I think I'll reset my expectations for this trip. I'm going to enjoy this cloudy afternoon tomorrow. I'm going to go for a walk if I find something cool and after that go fishing that's it, whatever happens I think I'll enjoy it a lot more it just looks incredibly beautiful that way there's a stream that leads to another lake, it's probably a I work hard but it looks very tempting right now maybe before I leave but now I'm not going to plan that, we'll see if I make it.

The unreal wind is crazy today. Wow, I think these are fiddleheads, they're a little tall, now that one of the smaller ones is edible, I'll keep an eye out. Maybe I can get some fiddle heads today, yeah, so these are fiddle heads. You can identify them with this U-shaped groove in the stem, this papery brown skin that falls off very easily, and the absence of hairs and these little ones. will be good to eat tonight these ones here are too big once they get over 6 to 8 inches it gets kind of toxic but yeah these ones are too tall too but there are some to pick up look here's one with hairs , this is not the one you want and here that is the paper brown skin.

So if you didn't see my trip with Joe last year, here's what happened: We were starting this exploratory trip here, got to this lake, and then wanted to move on on our first day. the black flies were off the chain like 10 out of 10 the terrain was too rough to carry all of our gear. I can't even find where we went now with practically no gear on my back and we were exhausted and sweaty and somewhere on the road in this Portage between here and the next lake. I know it was somewhere there. I lost my GoPro.

My GoPro had all the footage of you know the difficulty of the trip and that was the hardest thing to lose, not just the GoPro itself. the memory card so I've been meaning to get it back ever since but as I said last night I'll just go for a walk in the woods if I come across a GoPro, that would be lovely, the hills were one of the hardest. things last year just went up and down with heavy loads, we packed

quit

e a bit, it was difficult, so I have traces of last year here. This is also just a federal map using the avenza maps app showing my location there.

We had found this goat trail here. and we were very optimistic, even just walking up, it's a difficult slope, but it didn't actually lead to a sweet little pond in Between the Lakes, so the GoPro is somewhere here between here and the next lake, but That's like a needle in a hay sock. I see anything, it's a little painful knowing today that I could walk past him and be a couple feet away, I probably will if I don't find him, that will probably be the case, oh man, brings back memories coming back to this point . Joe and I worked really hard to get here and we were pretty low when we did, but it's a really beautiful lake.

I remember this place, there is a huge saucer-shaped mushroom, so I passed by here, so here is the top of the peak. this is the last stone whereabouts of the GoPro I remember taking a photo here in front of the lake and that was the last time I remember using it oh man I saw this little piece of black dirt there and from a certain angle it looked like a black square. The GoPro-sized heart jumped out a bit impressively. I've been recording my ride for a while so I can see what I've covered. We walked a bunch of bush to Scout and created a trail, so we covered so many places. could be ok, I looked in all the logical places I could think of, I couldn't think of any signs so it was a nice walk in the woods, it was fun although it felt like a hunt so at least I'm getting some heads PID of the deal.

I'm going to grab these little ones in the middle that are still curled up, I have a few dozen enough for a meal. Now I'm going to return to camp. It's going to be a challenge with this wind. Return to camp. These trees sound like I'm about to break down M, that's really good, it tastes like asparagus, which I really love, being in the wind all afternoon and into the night, and this north wind is brutally cold. I was getting really cold just reading it, so about how to make some hot chocolate. some goat cheese not a bad afternoon oh tomorrow once we lit the fire the wind calmed down uh so far this trip has been everything we've done before maybe today we'll explore something new yeah okay we're just going to take a break Ready, quick, bear with me, sorry, so yeah, today I'm going to try to head north from this lake.

I've been to the east, I've been to the west, I've been to the south and the north. I've put it off because it seems like unpleasant work. across a stream, but after being windswept most of yesterday, I didn't get much done. I feel like I have it inside me if I pass it. It looks spectacular on a map. Eight pieces of garlic with chili and cheese is a lot. This is a lot of food. you can do it Bruce come on Bruce come on Bruce you can do it Bruce Bruce Bruce Bruce Bruce Bruce Bruce and that's how we had breakfast so there's my camp that red pin at the bottom there's my location in blue and I want continue. this creek, this should be the hard part once they get into this lake, it should be fine, it looks clear anyway on a map, but sometimes the map lies, I'll just send the drone out to do a little pre-Scout , it will probably have to get wet. here and it's cold this morning the sun came through me and that feels amazing but if I'm going to be cold I want to make sure there's going to be some potential there at least well I rarely get to say this but the creek actually looks well there's a beaver dam right at the beginning and then another obstruction towards the end and that's all I could really see, there's enough water to paddle here and I'm at that last obstruction before the lake.

Can't. I think how good the trip to Creek was never ceases to amaze me. Where will I find a pot to make money. I have no idea why, since it's so shallow here, you'd have trouble getting the boat across, not to mention having to go over Beaver Dam. And anyway, the trail looks pretty overgrown, but there's one here , so that's great news for me, just a little cleanup work. It looks good again. Cute little waterfalls along Portage. Beautiful, oh man, so I'm leaving the main basin in the lake. It narrows for a while here and then opens up again, beautiful Beaver Lodge here, what a beautiful little valley connecting these lakes, this is what it's all about for me, breaking your hump walking in, seeing something almost no one sees, just taking it in. .

The sun rises for you and you have these moments from time to time, everything comes together, okay, here is the last basin, very nice. The cliffs are not as dramatic as I thought they might be up here, you can see some exposed rocks, but they are mostly beautiful trees. But wow, there's an old tropper cabin in the woods here totally hidden. I didn't see her at all, except for the reflection of light in a window. Hello, how perfect is this. I guess it's a Trappers cabin. Hello, I hope so. It doesn't collapse on me, it feels pretty rickety, there's not much here, not even a clean bed, although it smells like kerosene.

I saw an old

spring

here which was a cool find, I didn't get the things I expect on this trip but I found different things to do. Get ready, fiddlers, yesterday, today, not to mention the scenery is pretty good. I fished this lake a lot and came up empty, so I'm going to get out of here and head to the only lake we actually fished. Last year I caught that special and unique looking lake trout. I think it was anyway, so this CAU troa from last year was special, it just had a very irregular pattern compared to most lake trout.

Some people said it is a tiger trout. I agree, it's a bit like that. but that should be impossible, I think it's just a particular pattern on that fish or maybe the strain that's in this lake, I think it's a lake trio, but anyway I want to have another special look, whatever it is . He was just stretching his legs and I followed him. This stream is a little further up, a really nice place for fiddlers. It's nicer here than yesterday. There are actually four good ones. Let's see if I can collect some more. They were very good yesterday.

Pretty good. A lot for one. It's exciting to return to base. I couldn't. make it happen, I did my best, but I've got fiddleheads to cook and I'm going to light a good fire because it's cold, very cold, man, it feels good to be back, it was a full day and to be back here. I'm starting to feel at home, like I didn't know there was a real sense of comfort in being back here, so I feel good. I can't wait to eat this. I love these things because to get back to the access lake, there is one stop before you start.

I finished when the first trip ended and I paddled away with no GoPro, no special trout, no auroras or storms, not even the route to the company I had planned, it was a reminder to relax my expectations for the rest of the year, whether it means of wildlife, a big fish or Northern Lights Trying to force moments to happen on trips almost never works, they tend to happen unexpectedly when you are simply available for a moment to come, it was a great change of perspective for trips to come, but still It was a solid start to the year.

There would be some really special moments coming, so if you're thinking that sounds cool, I'm going to

quit

my job and make camp videos too. I warn you that it was not that easy, it took years to make with countless hours invested and it took a lot of sacrifices and planning between the next trips. I'll outline the story of how this all came to be and if you don't care how it came to be, there are chapters in the play bar if you want to skip ahead to the journeys. but if you want to hear the full story here, here, how I changed my life.

I grew up in Toronto, studied Downtown Business at tmu and sold cameras part time at a big mall until I graduated in 2010, back in my city days. say that I could give up all living nature outside of the earth. I now realize how hard and extreme that life would be, but also how deprived I was of nature living most of my life trapped within four walls in a city, whether you work in an office, a factory, a store a restaurant School vehicle Hospital Hotel even the home any workplace can seem like a cage the job does not belong to you but it does own your time be from 9:00 to 5:00 weekends and evenings day shift night shift part time full time during those hours that you are confined and when you finally see the bars of your cage the only thing you really want is freedom, so the desire I had to live in nature was real, but not realistic.

Toronto is a great city, but I never belonged. there or in any city, but after school my life continued in the city with a job offer. I worked in a sales and marketing position on the 70th floor, where you could make six figures in your 20s if you could climb the ladder. It was an office full of guys. A and suits and although the entry level positions were not well paid at $32,000 a year, which4 days I guess pork pico whatever is in a sausage I don't think anyone knows, no one knows, or the old backpack dogs, a little ketchup, yeah.

And what a beautiful morning it was. The night stars came out, it is completely clear that we went without the fly because it was clear that an owl was perching right above these trees. Owl and hooted and the loons moved. The gold sang. The atmosphere was off the charts. I got a big pot of cheesy vegetable chili with some garlic bread and tried to refuel because we want to have a great day, hopefully make up some ground. I would say that every day we gain less ground than we thought, so I hope today we change that.

Saying goodbye to that fantastic campsite and heading to our first Portage of the day should have several. Hopefully if we can make them, some good rocks to jump over here, this is the trail, this is the green trail I said, we get off this one. We're coming here, this is the green trail that would have crossed it, but it looks like we should be heading straight there, that's what we're trying to do and this trail goes and stops there, okay, the class supplies are really arriving . Okay, three shuttles connecting the two lakes, a couple of ponds in the middle, we're on our way, funny, we have several map resources for this trip.

Joe has a Garmin GPS. I have Aen maps on my phone. I have, I think, Kevin Kalin. old map of this route and Joe has a different printed map that he bought at a nearby store and none of them really agree and sometimes one of them is wrong, other times that same map is right and the other one is wrong, it has caused a There is a lot of confusion for us on this trip, but it is made for a great adventure. Not knowing the way. Sometimes it is the most rewarding journey. Find the way. It's definitely raining ahead.

I can see it with my sunglasses on at least one more time. We are looking for. to Portage it seems like the water levels have changed a lot because this is all of March we finally found the flag there so I guess that's our way to go but I was going to put on my bug shirt but we're close to camp it's just there. in sight, so I hope I don't have to light a smoldering fire. Hopefully getting rid of them, so we check out the campsite, it looks decent but we feel like continuing, there's a 160m portage to get to the next lake, we still have a lot. of daylight and the next lake is pretty stocked with splake, well if we got splake that would be every tro PES in the area basically true it would be the Grand Slam upgrade that triple crown to a grand slam last night it finally came out for an evening paddle just to fish and relax Joe came out about an hour ago and got a talk so he upgraded his Trout Triple Crown to a Trout Grand Slam, Rookies, Rainbows, Lakers and now speaks for him, for what the pressure is on meina fish to wait for the Grand Slam looking for a splake yes, it's in the net, it's hitting the water it's pretty dark I'm thinking about splake although here's the moment of truth that seems like a splake to me, a little like a fork in the tail and that's the grand slam, my friends.

Grand Slams tro Grand Slams for both of us for a couple of friends, it's a great fishing trip and there's a magical sunset, a beautiful, amazing night, hey.uh, I know you're in the Grand Slam Club. I wonder if you'll let me in. Oh, good man, in the corner with my little Cleo. Good stuff, perfect home runs for both of them. Congratulations, man, no, well, we're in it. The final stretch here we have to do some jumps in the pond and then a known portage that we have already done to get back to our access lake and then we're out of here.

Joe is in a bigger hurry than me, so he goes Jet forward he clears all the trails, yes that's the reason, but it was an amazing trip, very good, right up there with one of the most memorable. I already know and I haven't even liked to go back and look at the pictures or try to remember it yet, yeah, it'll be fun to remember, yeah, yeah, it's not even over yet, yeah right, and look, look at the gold, oh, it's just a beautiful morning too, yes we have had amazing weather, yes amazing. Across the board, even the snow was magical.

I'm going to saddle up right here, just absorb this yesterday. I was happy to go home, really Miss Aaron. The body is destroyed, but this morning it feels harder to get out. It's so peaceful. and I'm really in my zen state now on day six, like day seven for me because I camped the first night at the hotspot, yeah, I'm looking forward to the next one at First Pond, I think there's five or six . so there will be lots of pond jumping, short portage, short portage, another swampy one, seven swampy buggy portages later, I'm back at the access lake.

It feels really good to have all the transportation behind us because we had some tough ones on that trip, it was amazing. Trip with Joe extremely memorable after a

spring

canoe trip that trout fishermen dream of. I packed up and hit the road to rest and resupply at home. I did some editing and spent some time with Aaron. Full-time camper life was starting as expected, but come on. Take a look back at how this was made possible 8 years before the trip you just watched. I was coming back to reality after a month in South America and the Northern road trip in my grandfather's minivan.

I returned to my low-rise apartment in Toronto. I started applying for jobs. that would bring me closer to Nature being the eldest of three brothers, he was a noise maker and had his sights set on becoming a conservation officer. I think I would have been very good at that too, but I cast a wider net by applying to places like parks and resource management companies, but with my education and experience in a completely unrelated field, I was getting nowhere fast and, Finally, I was getting nowhere slowly, luckily I was splitting the rent with my best friend Chris, which bought me a little time in my bank account, but as the summer progressed, I started to lose hope that Any conservation or park organization would give me a chance.

Finally, a recruiter contacted me and before I knew it, I was working another marketing job, this time in the town of Miss Saga, west of Toronto. a pretty good role in an agency that did more promotions at Walmart, like in my last marketing job, we created promotional materials on Millions for Mass for nationwide distribution, this really caught my attention, forcing consumers to convince them of buying things they probably bought. I don't need a company that had been the face of consumerism in my life. I'm not saying that marketing doesn't have its place, people have real needs and there are products that improve our lives, but I remember a promotion we ran for a toaster made specifically for hot dogs and I'm embarrassed that there were sugary snacks, new products with prizes nonsense that were bought with more than what was earned, cheap gadgets that would end up in the landfill in no time, how can you promote consumerism to make a living when your core values ​​are conservation?

The work-life balance was better with this job and I had a lot of good times with good friends, but I could never reconcile those feelings. I knew I could continue like this for the next 40 years or reinvent myself in my twenties before it was like that. too late and after almost 3 years on the job and since the last big adventure, the desire to camp had returned with a vengeance. I would spend hours looking at maps and thinking about where to go and imagining what fish might be in the lakes once again. I started planning my Escape, but this time I would be smarter and have a real plan.

Change begins with hope but is executed with a plan after months of preparation and saving. I told my boss that I was pursuing a college degree to make the transition. career to Something in Nature I've been saving money again to pay for school and if I lived cheap I could quit 4 months before the first semester to go camping seriously. I sold a lot of what I had, but I felt like I needed to make a big acquisition. My dad's heavy fiberglass canoe needed an upgrade if he was going to do this all summer. I bought my first canoe at a small store in Hamilton, Ontario.

It was a 15-ton, expedition-grade Kevlar prospector model. A fantastic boat. for adventure and for around $1,500 with some upgrades and paddles, it was a very good deal. I left in May as soon as the ice melted and was safe until the end of August, when I would have to prepare for school. I kept a diary that summer, but at that time I only took photographs and very rarely short video clips with a still camera. Life wasn't glamorous, but it was wonderfully simple. At one point, I remember going 3 weeks without showering or swimming because the water was too cold in May and I didn't want to spend money on accommodation.

I ate simple packaged foods along with the occasional fish. My equipment was very basic and the van was still my motel when I needed it, but I was free and happy. as it could be and unlike the first escape this time I had a concrete plan to return to real life and transform my work into something that mattered to me with this vision for the future I was able to enjoy the moment the more my thoughts tend to be dominated by the future , but for the first time I was in the present for the first time since I can remember.

I took time to read books for fun. I fished and went wherever the wind took me. Guided by some invaluable maps he had purchased. I mostly chose. I put down roots in the Tamogami region and it was here that I learned the ins and outs of mostly backcountry solo camping. I stayed on public lands outside of operating parks where I could camp for free to stretch my budget as summer ended. I was afraid I would have to end this lifestyle, but I was also excited to start school again, but before we open that chapter, let's travel again because the next one was truly special, one of the best trips of my life.

Hello beautiful, to get to my starting point Aon. They drove me 3 hours west from home to an old silver mining town in what is now a sleeping giant Ral Park. From there I intended to row more than 200km east to the small coastal town of Rosport. Okay, I can't, I just took refuge. In this little bay I'm already a little stuck, this is what you don't want to happen here, the waves are high, there are two 3 foot waves, the wind is blowing on land, thick fog, so it's pretty much the worst conditions for navigation. So I'm going to wait.

I promised Aon that I would be safe. She's usually pretty easygoing about my trips, but understandably she was anxious about this one, so I have to play it safe, so here I am in the canoe. in the water hoping it's not too bad The skies have cleared and the sun has lifted the fog now I can see islands in the distance and that's all I need to navigate here continue with that landform coming into view there there's the sleeping Giant, what a view, okay, buckle up on a little island here in the middle of Brown Island and I'm at a critical juncture, I've got a sleeping giant behind me at the end of the SI Peninsula, it's on the north shore of Lake Superior here and more. there and in the distance are the pops and a small mountain range I call the mountains hills at least and now I need to make a big crossing and the conditions I feel are safe to do it right now so I'm inclined to do it alternatively I can camp here see what's up this afternoon doing the crossing in the afternoon or morning when it's probably calmer but I have a tailwind and the waves are pretty gentle so I feel like I can do this safely.

I'm taking a moment to think about it carefully. I'm going to try it, at least get out for a little bit and see how I feel. I can always back out, but I think this is my chance. I had a good tailwind. The rollers are quite gentle, so this is the island that is about 3 km away and that is my next point of refuge. I arrived at the first island that is occupied by seagulls. They don't like me and I can camp on some islands. This way if need be, Daryl said you can camp there in a pinch or in a carry-on, just visiting the island seemed like a worthwhile stop either way, pretty unique, amazing view here, it's tempting camping, but the conditions seem even better here, that's the poetry. lighthouse there is quite a bit of history.

I would like to visit it. You can do it. I'm not sure it's in the C. It's based on the wind and my schedule. The fairly thick bushes here are not the best for camping. Just go. to check the weather again it looks like the weather will be fine if I want to cross this is the sleeping giant of the Peninsula IF that's where I launch that's where I am and then I just need to cross here and then I can camp that red dot there if I like, I almost jumpedthings, but you have to remember that they move in geological time that probably won't collapse for millennia.

I'm in Shishi Bay and I was planning to go straight to the back of the bay, which is about 8 km from here, but the wind is against me and then it will be against me again when I leave tomorrow, so I'm just going to cross the mouth of the bay and I'll move on. Listen to the lake, it's been over 2km across Shishi Bay and I promised Aaron that he'd wear the suit if he made a big crossing, but it's brutally hot. It's very hot in this suit in pretty Choy, but not as bad as the first day.

It was by far the least pleasant to paddle this is well collected it became quite strong there what started to go with the wind it was flying very unusual rocks here like columns wow otter island I'm an amazing place Another spectacular island should no longer surprise me but I'm fine . I'm going to move away from Otter Island one more crossing and then I should be protected by the mainland from this northerly wind. I think this is called Sail Rock. It's sitting here like an iceberg. Uh-oh, that's sweaty. I found a campsite for the day and I think it's my favorite, but I have a nice little huge view of Babbling Brook.

I can even see my old friends, the pops from there, nor in Stony Beach, and there's a lake a little over there and I was wondering if I'd get into it and In fact, it looks like there's a trail that might be fun to walk on, It's 4:00 so you probably have time to do it and there are actually places to hang the hammock which has been kind of a challenge. It's actually been better for tents. I don't say that very often, yeah, little trail and this is an interesting place to have a trail because it's a remote and wild place, you have to navigate a long way, even in a motorboat, to get here.

That trail sold out pretty quickly. a game trail, yes it looks very shallow and it became a real tangle to get in here so forget it goes on. Further out it might be deeper there, maybe it's a honey hole for brook trout, but I've got a pretty good lake where I came from. wondering what that sound was before, eh, just a beaver, what a Little Beaver 5:36 a.m. new best time leaving behind Dawson Creek and this cloud of mosquitoes and it was actually an old logging camp right there it was, I felt like some of the trees look Planted just because they were too neat and yeah, last night I was reading the guidebook that said that and Yes, it's called Dawson's Creek.

Nice little cave there if you needed shelter, no time to check, I have to get around this point though. to see the sunrise, wow, I've never enjoyed the mornings more on any trip, day five, those beavers were amazing last night, beavers aren't usually that interesting, you know, you see them swimming, they splash their tail and they're gone, but when I could actually see them really well and I was laying in the hammock and then I heard these little cries and I thought what the heck if you've never heard a young beaver cry before, it sounds a lot like a human baby or toddler, it's weird. mom and yes if you don't expect to hear a baby's voice in the desert it is quite strange but I have heard it before and should have known but I have spent some time looking at a large nest wondering if it could be an eagle. and mom just got home or dad, it's funny how uncool they call eagles, that's why they always use red-tailed hawks in the movies. hook near the eye, don't want to rip it off, that's just for human purposes, it has to be a keeper and I was looking for a fish to keep today anyway so it's perfect and yes a good size to eat for one, thanks.

Thank you very much, another amazing Laker landscape at this location just south of Spar Island. I'd love to stop here and clean those trout over there. Huge beach here, very long beach, but I'm paddling on glass and I have to cross the Nippan straight, which is a pretty noticeable passage, so I think I'll go ahead and try to do it and then once I've crossed it I can make it my fish reward that mountainous region up there, it's Plure Island. I had no idea it was so picturesque. so the wind picks up a strong breeze from the east, it rises as predicted on the Zolo, which I keep here in the pocket of my life jacket, it is also my SOS beacon.

I am at the beginning of the nian straight, about 2 km to cross here. in chops picking up but it's still perfectly reasonable so 80% of the way and on Lee of Clure Island now seemed like a long haul but it was pretty straight forward, the wind didn't pick up too much, I found this big piece of wood. along the beach I dragged him here because he'll make a good cutting board and lay this guy down, he's pretty stiff now r moros M well, I can smell him from here M phenomenal m digging the lemon pepper M the seagull is taking on the eagle, both Take a look at the carcass carcass surprised that the seagull has won for now anyway I have been waiting so I patiently put it on the rock for him and now that the eagle has appeared he is just taking it down G eating the fins, yes, you may be too small.

For the corpse that an eagle could obtain, oh Eagle is returning. Eagle took flight oh oh wow, what have I done? he'll take on anyone oh one of them just pooped Landing in the water right there that was close ooh it's like he choked on that intestine he's turned some beautiful rocks on this beach most beaches in Superior but really pretty quartz looks best even when you're wet, just look at those jewelry. I remember the old days when I was a kid and thought I could get rich with these. It was easier to remove any traces from my stove so it looked clean.

That's my idea of ​​a short lunch right there, delicious, wasn't chased by mosquitoes while cleaning the fish, which can often make it so unpleasant in summer, and I was able to share it with a couple of friends, there goes that weak eagle heading to FL Island, the archipelago south of there are tons of islands, they're everywhere, that's the main lake out there and up here there's a forest fire, it looks like it's not too old because it hasn't grown back yet , here is the camp for tonight, a beautiful wide view of the island of St. ignes.

We'll talk about that later and here's a nice sheltered camping area, perfect for the hammock, oh oh, I'm almost done with this book, lonely in the desert, Edward Abbey, he's aged very well, he's over 50 years old, but it's still edgy, it's very good, very appropriate for today too and There's a quote that really stands out here because it makes me think of the upper not too long gaze into the abyss. The abyss stare into the abyss, sometimes looking at Superior like an ocean when you have an open view of it, feels like that. and next I have this beautiful sunrise over San IGN Island this morning, a strong breeze, a strong headwind has already picked up, it's 5:42 so I'm glad I'm on the water early because it could be nasty what I'm crossing the blind channel now for the island St ignas did.

I am very excited to get closer to Sigas Island. It is a huge island, the second largest in Lake Superior behind Royale. It has lakes in its large lakes, in fact, within it it has one of the highest. land points in Ontario on Mount s ignis, but the scenery I have on the way to get here is going to be hard to beat, so we'll see what it brings. It's getting pretty hectic. I just arrived on this island. To take a breather, that's Mount St. Ignis, looking all dark and mysterious, might be a short day to paddle at this pace on the Brook River MK, spilling out crashing against the waves, quite a nice place and I found a new memory, my usual one.

I have quite a few of these Oh, they're half full, that's cool, another sea arch here at Duncan Cove and you can paddle through it, oh, that's fun, oh man, that's awesome, nice. The beach stopped for lunch here at this beach in Duncan Cove and while I was cooking my pen I found this. I think it is an aate agot rock and if it is, it is the first one I have found. There are geodes that appear crystalline, but an agate has these concentric rings. so I think this would qualify, it's small, but I think it still counts, that on Focus, hopefully, anyway, I'm pretty excited about the fact that Laker actually caught on the bottom of the jaw on the outside , I'm just going to film them underwater, let them explode.

Passing by the GRE point it looks so tropical that the coastline looks like pure beach, although it's probably all gravel and small mountains, yeah I thought this point was going to be a total war zone, very shallow too, so the waves can really get up. and they are, but not that bad. I can paddle very well and Mount St. Ignis is just coming into view here and is now lit up by the sun before it looks epic. Wow, what an incredible place, this rock is amazing and it's pretty. common here. I am protected behind Long Point.

I really don't have the strength to face whatever is around that point in terms of wind and waves so I'll camp here if I can find a place to actually hang the hammock small exfoliation killed a I don't know a couple of hours maybe even more in this place it is beautiful place I have enjoyed it I have that wavy feeling in my head when you have been in the water with waves for too long it is nice and I could possibly camp here but no it is not great and I really don't want to mark this pristine view with a fire, so if I find another place I can go to the shore and stuff.

I'll do it for tonight. I took the canoe to the campsite. Some things are crying because it ended up being an S landing. Everything is drying out, except my memory of Brook River, but hey, it's sunny too, a little dry, ah, all set. in Amar, a fantastic view, here's my makeshift laundry. I have my shirts and pants, shirt and pants in the net along with some pebbles, so it's not too light, it doesn't come off and this net has a strap, so I put it in the canoe here rinse cycle on Modern Family there an episode where Cam and Mitch talk about delaying gratification.

They have a bottle of really good wine or champagne and they never open it because it's too good and they don't want to enjoy it. We'll enjoy it later at a better time, at a more special time, in the end they just give up and drink what they want. This is my champagne. This Veggie Pad Thai packaged meal. I always take it on trips and say no. I don't have to put it away I have to put it away I bring it mainly for longer trips just to add some variety I can't get the veggie pads to tie in here it would be difficult anyway so today is the end of delayed gratification tastes like the present I need some Sriracha, even though I put it on everything.

This is great, although I've tried it before once in the water before 6: again I woke up at like 4:00 just couldn't sleep, so here I am. The conditions are quite good. I've been hitting the shore all night even though the wind seems to die down and now it's still calming down but pretty good, what are you a lake, cool, oh and it's got a sea lamp, pray on it, oh, Come in, let me take that away from you, oh. brutal, okay, it's in the net, look at this, sea lamp, Ray came in invasively, they whipped the fish and just let them out, basically no way, the lamp pre-separated on its own, and the lamp is swimming there now trying to escape from himself. my hands for his throat, cute Laker, thanks, he doesn't have a bad scar from the flash so he probably hasn't been on for that long and look at this nasty little guy, the bottom of his mouth is really gross, maybe he doesn't be.

It's hard to get them to turn upside down, but it's like a suction cup full of teeth, and I honestly don't know if this is a pre-invasive or native light, so I'm not sure what to do with it. Look on my phone and see if. I have offline resources to identify it. It's disgusting, in fact, I'm going to pick it up. Oh, it's so gross. I don't want his mouth to touch my hand, to be honest, it's so slippery I don't really believe it. Don't think it's a sea lamp Ray, oh it's the most disgusting thing ever.

I can't lift it. It is also there and works with the rubber net. Look at his mouth. Imagine having that stuck to you anyway. It had some identification and I don't think it's a CA Ray lamp. I'm pretty sure it's not, so I'm going to do what I'm going to do, whether it's submit or release, what would you do? I'm not going to record it because there isn't one to please anyone so I took a photo of a fish identification book and yes there is a pre plated Northern Brook American Brook Chestnut lamp and a pre sea lamp but I'm pretty sure it was a silver Lampe, not a sea Lampe beautiful here in Armor Harbor very quiet very interesting place behind me it's a nation called narvia some guys I guess after a few beers decided to occupy that place I don't know if it's like a squatter situation yeah somehow they acquired it but anyway if they declared themselves a nation and have their own anthem and flag apparently it's a pretty fun Google search.

I could see that yesterday the nice and soft rollers today were like chop chop chop chop chop like thecanoe equivalent of driving to Mo on a very rough and bumpy road today it's like I'm headed to the bay where I plan to camp tonight and hike this afternoon but the strong headwinds that are picking up here have not yet They have been able to find the trailhead, but before we do anything I need lunch and souvenirs, aluminum foil, my favorite souvenir. I found the trailhead thanks to this little beat-up flag hike up Mount St. Ignis. St.

Ignis Island is the largest island in the nmca region and also contains one of the highest points of land in ontario. This peak Mount St. Ignis is accessed by a little known. however, the world class hiking trail that gains 126 65 feet of elevation on its 5 km long hike takes at least 6 hours back and is quite challenging here comes the rain, a beautiful hike I was really excited about this, it's quite an adventure, beautiful cedars growing as straight as Spruce I. I just made a big climb up what I thought was the trail. I'm pretty sure I lost it.

I haven't seen a flag or a piece of wood in a long time. It must have been a game. The trail probably lost half an hour but I got back on the trail and just at the right time look at this oh wow that's nice nice and cold this trail is no joke you have to climb this part right next to the waterfall this is difficult beautiful tho spectacular ah wow oh what I can see from there not even all the falls. I was wondering where the trail goes here. Many mousse droppings are seen on the trail.

Open my view. One in this pond. I found some moose bones here about 90% of the way. There's still almost 200 feet of elevation gain left, but I'm getting closer and starting to get my first views. There are some beautiful inland lakes on this island and one looks stunning. Hey, here's the summit just when you think you got there early. I checked my Topo, it's not like that. Wow, that's phenomenal. It looks like it's raining there. Oh, I may get soaked very soon, but I wouldn't hate it. I love finding them. Yes, here comes the rain. What a great hike for anyone who explored. and he has maintained this trail like a beast, it has to be the hardest trail I have ever done, not to mention it is the last half of June and the bugs are quite numerous and they have made it to the west side of the peak.

I really just look to remember where I had been, isn't it ironic? Isn't it ironic? It's like rain on your day when it rains, it rains, you know and it's a beautiful thing. I have virtually no time constraints now. I left my job. I'm camping as much as I want and before if I was taking my vacation, yeah I'd be pretty bummed, but now it's like another part of the trip, isn't it ironic? Hey, look, that just became clear. a little bit so I can see the pops, see all the places I've been, that lake down there is King Lake, it's an inland lake on this island.

I have no idea if there is a trail. I have to imagine someone must have put one up if they did. you go up this damn mountain getting a real gust of wind now it's so raw up here I'm in no hurry to leave unless it gets really nasty what a tough existence every tree the biggest tree is small and I love this one in particular, It highlights so beautifully this huge body of water that goes right there, that's the Nipan Straight that leads to Nipan Bay, a big part of Lake Superior and then, uh, that's Plure Island that I passed by a couple of ago. days.

You see that the channel reaches there and then. There's a big island in the distance dividing it, that's where I was hoping it might happen, but it looks like it's recovering, so I'm going down again, but it's worth it. Very happy to have done this. I needed it too. My legs needed it. For a stretch they have been sitting in the canoe. no Port Portages has a disadvantage and that is that your legs are cramped. My only worry now is unhooking all these wet, slippery rods, but I'll definitely get there, just clearing myself up a bit.

To the west there are a bunch of islands that I just passed and many more there and beyond on a map, it all seems pretty easy. I'll just jump to that island on this island, the next one is a big lake, I'll cross them. I went straight to Simpson Island 6:30 no one touched my stuff, that's good, I have to find the campground. Hey, he just loaded the canoe and a rainbow materialized. It looks so close I could almost touch it. Beauty, oh I see a double, there's a double, you know what that means, I was going to cross the muffet right to the other side of this island if the wind gave me the chance, but it's still up and I ran out of gas, I ate once and I've been going since 4:00 a.m. m., so you know, 15 hours, so I'm going to stop here.

There's a nice Cobble Beach very well protected from the wind and waves by this little spit and, uh, put up a tarp, it looks like it's still raining. and go out and have a good meal excited because that fire feels good tonight it's pretty cold soaking wet and that wind was pretty cold there's actually a pretty neat little cave right there if I were a better YouTuber I'd sleep there that sounds just It's horrible, did you sleep there? It has a good overhang that protects from wind and driving rain, but it is very uneven. It would be terrible.

I'm going to fake it for the thumbnail and excerpt. Still done. I just finished dinner. You could see the rain coming through the ground. The lake ran through here I was struggling to get the tarp up and then I can take all the time in the world to set up my hammock. Oh yeah, I just heard that. It feels like you've cheated death when you get ahead of the rain. This is wonderful, I got up early again and allowed myself to sleep until 5:30, although I crossed the Mofet straight, so I'll make it while it's calm. Conditions look pretty good.

Some gentle waves crash against these rocks here, crossing over to Simpson Island, another big one. I think I'm entering the last few days of this trip. I'll finish it in 9 days and I thought it would be 10-12 years old, but it wasn't. I was never out of breath for a full day. I made pretty good progress every day, so I'm ahead of schedule, which is a little sad. You know you need to finish early, but it's better to end on a high note than dry it up, drag it out, and just fade away. and The conditions seem pretty good.

I have a 3km crossing after Simpson Island and I'm going to dip my toe in the water. Circle this point and see what it is like. I think this will be my chance to do it. To be there. on the hill looking at me hey mate its too wavy so cool what an amazing vantage point to see one surfing on top of a cliff looks good 3km shouldn't seem like too much if these conditions stay out of the way there after. 2: p.m. I'm having my first real meal of the day and I have my own picnic table, it's nice and reasonably new.

Campground picnic tables are usually pretty beat up, like that one over there. I'm glad I kept going this morning while I was. The calm wind has risen now, the white sky is covering that crossing. Perfect night for the last night here. I'm just taking it in and it looks like it's going to be a nice sunset. It's almost 9:00 and the sun doesn't set until 10:00. So I still have some time, but it's been a phenomenal journey. Just looking back on it, as usual, it hasn't been what I expected at all. I thought I'd be seeing moose. I have constant fishing and would have some really challenging weather. really none of those things happened the fishing was decent, perfectly decent, no mousse, but today I'm a porcupine, which to me is much rarer than a moose.

I never see porcupines it was the second or third porcupine I've seen so that was fantastic and then some great interactions with some of the more basic animals and birds got the San Hill trains and amazing interactions with the beavers actually the beavers that I saw on Dawson's Creek was incredible. I've never seen beavers so well and, uh, the beaver over there. It was the baby crying and then the big one with shoulders. I was actually a little worried about him coming. It seemed like an absolute tank and then the weather. I didn't lose a single day due to the conditions.

Maybe I called him early. a couple of times, but I still made progress every day and that's why I'm ahead of schedule. I will finish in 9 days. It doesn't matter if you finish in 9, 10, 11, 12 days. It's just a matter of accepting whatever conditions you have in Superior. and if you get good conditions, you continue, so there was no need to delay and make it longer, it was perfect and I really want to thank Zach and Daryl, who published the guide for this route for this area of ​​Aira, actually there. There are countless routes you can do. I could do this route 10 more times and do it totally differently.

It's just amazing with all the islands and bays. There is a lot to see. I left a lot on the table, but I plan to get back to Aaron one day. because she would love this, but these guys are true stewards of this area, excellent conservationists, they know this area very well and that really enhances my trip, so thank you all so much, regards, thanks for joining me and regards to Superior, my Favorite lake on Earth. I finished this fantastic book and Edward Abby passed away in 1989, a year and a half after I was born. He makes you wonder what you could leave behind to go to a place you love.

I got the pancake mix with a little cinnamon. I love cinnamon. Make them delicious. small easier to turn I want to have all these trips there has been no time in the morning it is nice and slow the morning today I slept until 6:30 I am always ashamed of my bad head How was it today? It is bad? That was fantastic. last night and I'm looking forward to this last day. The sun shines. What do we have Laker? Oh, it's on the net. It is quite small. We should let him out. Thank you. That's the Battle Island lighthouse.

It is about 150 years old. I'd like to go out and check it out. It's over, but I'm a little worried about the wind and waves coming up. I have to return to my meeting point with Aaron, the last crossing of the trip. The rain is starting to come. I'll be in the car shortly, where are you? you got, I don't know, it feels like maybe a Brookie, it's really crazy, yeah, Brookie probably regretted it, yeah, you on the TR Lake Diablo, Lake Diablo, yeah, I just watched your video the other day, oh yeah Of course, nice to meet you. yeah in the same way how do you find out that oh this is a good spec yeah it's nice sorry I might be ruining your no you're not adding it you're going to be in a good spec thanks mate tho probably not legal? not quite, no, it's hard to make them legal, they're usually all that size, crazy standard, eh, yeah, a spec over half a meter, that's a big choke, that's a big spec, well that's like 5 something like PBS, it's cool if you make another video or what.

Yes, this is the end of my journey. In fact, I'm finishing up in Rosport. I've been gone 9 days. Oh, I really started from Silver Eye. No way. Yes, it has been a great journey. It's a good battle. Yeah, that's a good P. that's awesome, pretty good weather, how's your day going, you get something, no, we just literally just launched, yeah, you're from Rome, that was a lot of fun, I ran into some people just as I'm nearing the end of the trip with a fish. and it turned out to be the prettiest fish of the trip and one of the most important specs of my life.

I hope I can take a decent photo. I didn't have this camera set up so I grabbed the GoPro and now another fish. about just Superior's parting gifts, that one felt unpleasantly like a Brookie, he was fighting like crazy, this one is probably more likely to be a Laker, yeah, it looks like it, yeah, another Laker hooks up the nice little Laker, thanks friend, just entering rossport. Aaron will be here any minute. my world-class shading services from Aon Outfitters, as always, a fresh delivery of fries, a couple of beers and a perryer, no need I've paddled Superior several times over the last few years, but the strip from From the Sleeping Giant really showed me the magic of this lake at home.

I went back to YouTube and the videos from previous trips were running pretty slow, which wasn't very promising for being able to maintain this lifestyle long term. The engine on Aaron's truck had also recently blown out. Somehow water had leaked. Putting it in and replacing it set us back significantly, but there was no reason to panic yet and I had plenty of time to get it working. I was still enjoying my new lifestyle, especially thinking about the city life I had escaped from 5 years earlier. I left my second marketing job and spent four blissful months camping with my grandfather's old Minivan and a new canoe, but as August came to a close, it was time to go back to school and start restarting my career.

It was a really strange feeling to be shopping for school supplies again, the university was located in a region known as coras in the city of Lindsay, it was about 2 hours from Toronto, between Cottage Country and lakes, which was a breath of fresh aircool. He was originally enrolled in a 2-year environmental technician course. diploma and most of us fresh out of high school moved into my room in a five-bedroom shared house that happened to be occupied by a student in the university's GIS program. GIS stands for Geographic Information Systems, which is basically modern cartography and Geographic Data Management I thought cartography was a thing of the past and I had no idea that people still made maps for a living.

My roommates showed me the work they were doing and said it was a good industry to get a job in natural resources. The GIS program was too. only 10 months instead of 2 years and it was a graduate certificate, meaning the students would be in their early 20s and some my age or older, not to mention my savings would only have to last half as long as planned if did the chalk program. I quickly made the change and finished it before the semester started and looked back with so much gratitude that I moved into that GIS student house.

However, the program was surprisingly intense, it was a 2-year program divided into three terms and most students there already had experience with GIS software, while I had none during the first term. We were tasked with designing any map we wanted and of course I chose to make a Backcountry map. I made one for a route I had paddled that summer and I loved the idea of ​​being able to make maps for my trips. I then expanded this project to make a padders map for the surrounding region and have made more maps as for some routes that needed one, the syllabus wasn't as exciting as this one. but I loved the gis world despite the heavy workload of the program, free time was limited, but like any student, I sometimes had to procrastinate one night while I was supposed to be working on an assignment.

I got carried away with a little passion project I had to do. Thinking about the journal I had kept during the previous summer of camping and the idea of ​​a blog came to me. I stayed up late into the night journaling and writing blog posts with photos from my travels. I titled the blog Backcountry angling Ontario. With nothing driving traffic to the blog, the views were so low that it was exciting to see a single page view every now and then. Still, the idea of ​​having a platform to share my passion excited me. I posted the photos of my trip on Facebook too, but my friends and family weren't big campers and what I really wanted was to share my travels with a community of people who are passionate about Back Country Adventure.

When spring came, I took a six-day trip during a break between the second and third semester. and I decided to film it with a spot camera, it's Earth Day, April 22, 2017, it's the first camping trip of the season, which makes us the happiest time of the year back then, in 2017, the camp genre on YouTube was nothing like that. Today, of the hundreds of people who are passionate about sharing their canoe trips, there seemed to be only a handful back then. I loved watching guys like Kevin Callen, Joe Rinet, and Brad Jennings go camping on their YouTube channels, so I thought I'd give filming a test run, the quality of my production was excellent, especially the audio on my little camera, the editing was even worse as a beginner using Windows Movie Maker, but I posted it on YouTube under the same name as Vlog Backcountry angling Ontario, it barely got any views, maybe 20. or 30 in a few weeks if I was lucky, but that didn't really matter as soloist.

I thought it was fun to be able to share the experience with others and the videos were reaching a handful of local paddlers and fishermen at the time. I even considered the idea of ​​making a living from YouTube. I was just sharing my passion and thought little of it after 10 busy months at school. I graduated and kept looking for work again, maybe it was the fact that I had marketing experience and was applying. for natural resources roles, but again the transition was difficult and I didn't get any interviews because the school took half as long as planned.

I still had some money in the bank, so I again took the opportunity to camp out between applying for jobs I had logged. A couple more short trips that spring to shoot the camera and I was really enjoying the filming and editing process. I carefully invested $900 in a better camera and microphone, and unlike the previous summer of camping, this time I would film everything. I finished. I spent 95 days traveling. That season I published raw Vlogs and the channel grew never so slowly. It took me almost 6 months to reach 100 subscribers and I posted almost 100 videos during that period, although they were a shorter format each day. of the trip being its own video you know you're starting to let go of the limitations of time when you start taking naps it couldn't be better right now I feel so at peace so at home this is so vindicating when Nature cooperates when the weather cooperate nature needs our respect but the weather the weather just demands our respect this is the kind of day that makes you feel really lucky just to be alive the world is ruined especially environmentally but when you're here connecting with nature you can't help but feel If you want to fight for her, do anything to protect her.

If you are someone who cares about nature or enjoys nature, you have a great opportunity to help shape the future. Nature is too precious to throw away footage and audio. They had improved a bit, but they were still pretty rough and the editing was just horrible between rides. I continued applying for jobs and hoping to return from each trip to Good News. It had been over 6 months and I still had nothing, but I refused to go. I returned to marketing while I still had some savings left. I kept my expenses low and moved from Lindsay to a basement in a smaller town called Omimi, Neil Young's hometown.

I tried to get some freelance work in GIS, but couldn't get any real traction. Since I had no experience in the industry and only made a few hundred from those efforts, I was getting desperate for anyone to give me a chance and the lower my savings got, the more my anxiety grew, which made things worse at the beginning of the year, When my grandfather's truck needed some repairs and I simply couldn't justify investing thousands of dollars in a 20 year old car, so I bought another car and financed it for 7 years to minimize the immediate cost. Finally as Christmas approached my friend Mike who I met at university threw me a Lifeline, he hooked me up with a short contract of only 3 months but that bought me time, what really made it a Christmas miracle was the fact that it was with the ministry of natural resources and forests in petero ontario after a year and a half living cheap and using my savings to get a paycheck again was an incredible relief and the fact that it was from m&f It was a dream come true for the city boy, but it was only for 3 months so I had to stay on my toes and keep looking for opportunitiesAlthough as soon as I had that job on my resume, the interviews started coming in.

Sometimes you just need someone to let you get your foot in the door. One of my first interviews was with the forestry company 1,000 km away, on the north shore of the lake. Superior, the natural scenery was stunning in the small, quiet town of Marathon, it was a perfect launching pad for backcountry trips. I was offered a permanent position there and accepted a job that changed my life. I'll finish this backstory in the next chapter, but let's get back to it. For some trips, the next trip was shorter, only a couple of nights, but really good. I was headed to a stunning Trout Lake where I had been once before but didn't have time to enjoy it.

It was an excellent piece from TR. of water and it stayed in my mind since I first saw it oh yeah here comes a fitting start to this trip a couple of years ago Aon and I finished our most brutal trip together we're waiting through the ice Creek hitting like it's just A horrible and brutal trip. The terrible weather ended up with us getting soaked here at this lake and it was a very memorable trip but we didn't really get to enjoy it much so here I am walking around the end starting from the opposite direction.

I didn't do the whole Loop, but just enough to enjoy this ending, which we thought was wonderful, but we had to hurry, we were already exhausted, we finished, we ran out of time. Hopefully this time I can enjoy it in the second Portage, very clear. one like this is a wonder, big part of the reason I came back here, that didn't take me long, oh I love baroso hooks, you see he just puts out his wet hands, protects the fish, you go home , friend. one second, please, pretty good, not bad, sorry, what are you?, what are you?, the hook came out but landed in the net.

Oh, a little Laker, that's one of the smallest Lakers I've ever caught. Oh man, look at that little Laker. Little thanks buddy, this is awesome, another Laker is going to let him out here. You've seen a Laker. You've seen two Lakers. This guy can just go. The less time they are out of the water, the better if you are releasing. Wow, this lake is amazing, it's so nice to be able to enjoy it this time and I could stop here and camp where Aaron and I camped, have a lovely time fishing at tro lake, it's right on the other side of some cliffs so it's really a nice view or me.

I might go ahead and do some strenuous Bush Waxing, probably on some small lakes that I suspect might have newbies. The choice should be easy, but I know I'm going to explore those hiking lakes. There is an amazing campground here at Camp Point. It's late and it's ruined. What do you do with this as a full Tempo tent shelter? It's an amazing place with a really bad spot, getting back to the good stuff, this lake is just amazing and if you can make it out, there's an exposed rock in Little Rock there, that's where we couldn't last year, another pretty decent Laker, from good size. and pretty dark thanks dude geez, okay I'm starting to explore from here and I'm just going to walk without clearing anything yet, it would just be Madness before exploring, it's about 3/4 of a kilometer, I don't know half a mile, so The first Maybe, this is just a feasibility study, who and we will see if so, if there is any hope of this happening, it doesn't look good, black flies, mosquitoes and thick bushes, unless you find a trail, this won't happen, but Plan B is nice.

Well, it's beautiful to go along this stream, although yes, this would really suck. Well, the good news is that I made it to First Pond. The bad news, there's no chance I'll carry the gear and canoe here, uh, too. It's a lot of work for a small pond. There are later small ponds and lakes that I hope to get to, but this is too difficult, so it's okay, it was a lovely walk through the woods. I'll walk back. to the last lake and if I come across a trail that's the only thing that would save this mission but the idea of ​​just enjoying the last lake and eating lake trout sounds pretty good yeah its not worth coming to this little pond Oh, would you look? in that glass that's crazy who and why they have to be snowmobiles what would require a snowmobile trail there is a canoe there is a canoe right there it looks really old let me check that maybe there is oh and that could be a trail I have to I'm kidding, oh man, this could mean a lot of work.

It looks like a trail I can't believe so it must connect with Portage to the next lake. I took the most direct route, but clearly there is another way. This is one of those little stubby ones like sports PD or if there were paddles, I don't think there are, I'd paddle across the lake and see what happens, I'd find another trail, but I still don't think it's worth it, if anything I'll have to do it. Come back another time now knowing this trail exists because there is too much bumpy, so there's more reason to say No, now I need to get back to camp, which might be impossible with this wind right behind the last point.

As soon as you turn this corner, it's going to get really nasty. It's going to be a tough paddle when you see that. I want a litter stuns mine, isn't it food and water? A barrel in the shade, there are tons of cooking sticks and a fantastic million dollar hammock set up back here. Seeing a mhm, okay, it took absolutely no time. There is a camp 30 seconds later. it's crazy i just got to this gravel beach at the end of south end lake some moose tracks that would be an amazing scene here a moose standing here looking at the lake the size of this guy so cute i'm curious to know anyone watching this video , would you rather have seen me make progress on those small lakes where I potentially get no fish just hoping to Brook tro or have a nice trip onthis picturesque lake, catch and soon eat like three?

Oh, that's perfect, that's perfect, I found a nice cut log that would make a nice cutting board. I just took the head and removed it and then most of the interns come out with it and then I just have to scrape all this stuff off. Okay, turn this log over. I have a table now, oh, smell. well I just got a whip, oh wow that's all that's left, plus the ribs are already burning at this point. I feel pretty good about the decision to stay on this lake. I could be walking through thick bushes and black flies all for no fish, so it was the right decision for this otter or a mink.

I can't tell you it's quite far away. I am expanded. It's funny about me. The wind is high. Perfect conditions for reading, although on the positive side of the wind there are no errors and I hope. There's a big storm blowing in that would be fun tonight. A really good storm last night packed under the tarp because it looks pretty gray. I have some firewood under the tarp. I don't know if the microphone will be able to pick this up, but somewhere out there something is echoing, it sounds like a moose walking on the water's edge.

I don't see it, although I heard it's amazing there, huh? It was an amazing way to start the day. Scoop up, still bite, here you go. thanks buddy, it's okay this is just lake trout heaven, it's so cold. Rocky Lake, it's actually over 300 feet deep, okay, back to the access lake, oh man, it's scorching hot today, it's only 10:30, it's already very hot, muggy and full of bugs , it's tough I think Aon and I finished our brutal trip here when it's been an ideal little trip for me and I have a feeling I'll be back one day for those potential brook trout lakes, hopefully with Aaron and get better with some booster.

It wasn't long before Wander Lless called me again to explore those potential brook trout lakes. I returned home to do the usual routine before and after each trip, a much-needed shower, drying gear, doing laundry, editing images, responding to messages, charging batteries, replenishing food, swapping barrels. maps and so on. I'll talk more about the behind-the-scenes work at the channel in the coming episodes, but let's go back and finish the story of how the dream of full-time camping came true. I left it where I had taken it. a new job on the north shore of lake SP career in spring 2018 the now year old channel still only had 400 subscribers and wasn't even eligible for monetization on YouTube it was still purely a hobby and I had no illusions about doing it full time, but restarting my life in the North had changed everything.

I had a steady job making maps that I enjoyed and home ownership was actually a possibility here compared to the incredible prices in Toronto. There was also Boreal Wilderness just around the corner for weekend getaways. city, a weekend of camping required hours of driving and usually a frustrating battle with traffic. The proximity of nature in the north allowed me to continue posting trips regularly while working. The move also led to the biggest reward of all after half a year. I found a girl from the north on Tinder called Aaron, she lived 4 hours away in the city of Geraldton and I told myself I wouldn't consider long distance so if she also lived far enough from each other to be outside the maximum radius on Tinder.

So it's still a miracle that we ever met, we thought that one day we crossed paths on the road and fell into each other's suggested profiles. I was inclined to swipe right on her profile upon seeing that she was alone in a canoe in one of her photos that we quickly planned to head out for a hike in Ruby Lake Provincial Park halfway between us, near the town of Nippan. We first met at Tim's so he could examine me and send my badge to his cop friend before going on a hike with a stranger when The first time I walked in, the look on her face told me she wasn't interested, which was the kind of look that you might have if you catch someone.

I guess I didn't know how to read her and luckily I was wrong, she was just a little nervous. Since we're all on a first date, she just decided I was safe and we continued the hike as we headed to the lookout. I learned that Aaron was born and raised in nearby Thunder Bay by adventurous parents who took her camping. Rivers like the Kopka and Missin ABI when he was young he loved to be outdoors and was not afraid of the mud mosquitoes or the miserable weather he played sports he built his own house he had all kinds of talents like stained glass and carpentry and he was preparing for begin your Master's degree in psychological counseling I fell head over heels in love in no time we hopped on the anti for our second date and went winter camping in the middle of nowhere.

I told her that I usually filmed my trips on YouTube so she would get the idea that she didn't have any problems. with him so I captured some footage while trying not to make it too weird, what a treasured memory that footage is now, how many can say they have their second date on video after 8 months we retired from long distance, like this that in the summer of In 2019, I bought us a house and she moved and accepted a new job in the Marathon real estate markets in small mining towns where the heat and cold were warm and it turned out to be a good time to buy the house of Three bedrooms with a finished basement that was ridiculously cheap. the house payment wouldn't even cover the down payment in Toronto, it wasn't a fancy house but we're not fancy people, our mortgage was a paltry $250 a month and this would become a major factor in YouTube being complete. financially viable time shortly before purchasing the house, the channel had become eligible for monetization on YouTube to monetize you need to get 1,000 subscribers with 4,000 hours of viewing during the 12 months prior to the beginning.

I was reluctant to do this, but decided to try it, the trips continued. and in the first 6 months after monetizing the channel, I made $800 and that was while putting in full-time hours on top of my full-time job, but I did it out of passion, so all I made from the channel was Simply the Income came exclusively from the ads that played on our videos and YouTube took care of all the business side for the next 6 months, the channel got a little more traction and I made over $5,000, bringing the total up for my first year. full monetization to approximately 6,000.

It wasn't enough to pay the bills even with our modest expenses, but the seed of an idea began to take root in the second full year of monetization. I made $21,000 from the channel and now had 40,000 people subscribed after its first 4 years. I did the math, I was making less than minimum wage for the 40+ hours a week I dedicated to the channel and it wasn't a meteoric growth in social media reach, the channel was still small, while in my real job the hours clicking on a desktop was causing some health problems and after almost 3 years there, the Wanderlust itch was bothering me.

I mentioned that there are over 250,000 lakes in Ontario alone and many of them are rarely seen. Every time I look at a map, they all seem to beg me to explore them with my savings, low household expenses and increasing canal income. I started discussing the possibility of taking a risk on YouTube with Aaron, she supported me without hesitation and that's why I was even more in love with her. Aaron could support us with her work if necessary, but I wouldn't let her carry that burden while I played in the bush and not because of Macho Man Pride, just out of mutual respect during my career transitions.

I always supported myself and generally struggled to accept gifts, help or encourage self-sufficiency, it's freedom and I appreciate it, but with Aaron I realized that having a partner you can trust means stability. She made taking risks with YouTube much more possible during the first few months of the year. I continued discussing the plan until I finally committed to it. I quit my job in March with 2 months notice. We also decided to change the name of the channel, which was still called Backcountry angling Ontario as a marketing graduate. I should have known the name was too specific, too long, and too hard to remember, but at least it appealed to that initial audience that we molded on countless names for a few months without anything feeling quite right driving home from Thunder.

Bay, one winter day, the name Lost Lakes popped into my head, it wasn't a stroke of brilliance, but it suited us and who doesn't like some alliteration, then L Lakes was born and that spring the dream began. camper and that catches us up on the trips you just watched after a slow start to the first trip videos of Superior's Northshore paddling season was taking off like nothing we've experienced on YouTube so far, but these waves are going and they come and keep coming, the trips and the videos had to keep coming too, having YouTube pay me to make camping videos was great, but it wasn't really about the money, it was about trying.

I got to this point by following my passion, not by chasing money. and that wasn't going to change anytime soon, the dream was alive and well and the season still had some amazing trips ahead of it as spring blossomed into summer.